


One Big Happy Family — "The Scheme"

by HufflepuffChildOfApollo



Series: One Big Happy Family [14]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Badass Mai (Avatar), F/M, Gen, Getting Back Together, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Kiyi is Adorable, Sibling Love, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Toph wants to teach children swears, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:28:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25787356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HufflepuffChildOfApollo/pseuds/HufflepuffChildOfApollo
Summary: Kiyi and Tom-Tom do their best to get their big brother and sister back together (with some help from Team Avatar).Special thanks to Axandrela for the comment that inspired this fic!
Relationships: Kiyi & Tom-Tom (Avatar), Kiyi & Zuko (Avatar), Mai & Tom-Tom (Avatar), Mai & Ty Lee (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Kiyi
Series: One Big Happy Family [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799011
Comments: 40
Kudos: 252





	1. "The Catalyst"

Zuko and Mai haven't spoken since they came back from Suki's wedding. Kiyi knows this because every time Mai shows up at the palace to talk to Ty Lee, Zuko gets _very_ invested in teaching Kiyi her firebending, and tries to completely ignore Mai. 

This is a problem. Kiyi knows Zuko's had a crush on Mai _forever,_ and Mai's clearly making googly eyes at him whenever she comes over. But if the two won't effin' _talk_ (and also, if someone doesn't tell her what 'effin' means, because Zuko _won't),_ Kiyi is going to _scream._

At the moment, Zuko is making her go through her forms, his words stilted and awkward as he talks, his arms crossed. And Mai is sitting in the garden, somewhere behind Kiyi. Kiyi knows this because Zuko keeps looking over there, blushing, and looking away again. 

Kiyi's just about had enough. 

"Why don't you go talk to her?" she asks once she's finished the form, putting her hands on her hips. Zuko's face goes pink. 

"She - I - who are you talking about?" he stutters, crossing his arms. 

" _Mai_ ," she says, even though she's _pretty effin' sure_ he knows. 

He frowns. "What about her?"

"You keep making _googly eyes_ at her, but you haven't talked since Suki's wedding. That was like two _weeks_ ago!" she reminds him. 

He sighs, the same way he does when Uncle Iroh says pretty much anything. 

"Kiyi..."

"What? You love her. She obviously likes you!" She crosses her arms to mirror his pose. "I don't see what the issue is!"

"She doesn't want to be with me," he argues. "She told me."

"Two _years_ ago," Kiyi grumbles. 

"It's not gonna happen, Kiyi." Zuko sighs. "Mai's not going to...she doesn't want me. Sorry to disappoint you."

Kiyi looks over her shoulder and catches Mai looking at Zuko. 

_Debatable,_ she thinks. 

{‡}

Tom-Tom goes with his sister to the palace one day. Mother says he needs the fresh air and to go outside, and then Mai says she has important business at the Royal Palace. 

The "important business" turns out to be gossiping with her friend and staring at Firelord Zuko's butt while he teaches his little sister firebending. 

Tom-Tom is _bored_ out of his mind, and wonders why she doesn't just go up and talk to him like a normal person. He says as much, and she looks at him like he's stupid. He knows she doesn't mean it, though. 

"Because he probably doesn't want to," Mai answers. "We broke up because I thought he didn't like me enough — he probably likes me even less now."

"Well, can you at least stop staring at his butt? It's _weird_."

Mai flicks him on the forehead. But she also stops, _thank Agni._

{‡}

"Of-effin'- _course_ Sparky's still in love with her. I mean, have you _felt_ his heart rate when she's around? I'll tell ya, that blood's going everywhere _but_ his brain." 

Kiyi _hasn't_ felt Zuko's heart rate, but it's still obvious to her. He gets all splotchy when he's flustered, and boy, is he splotchy right now. 

They're all in Zuko's room, because it's Zuko's 21st birthday and Team Avatar (as Sokka refers to the group of friends) insisted on visiting to celebrate. They do this every year, but it's a little surprising after they all pretty much _just_ saw each other at the wedding. 

Tom-Tom is there, too, because apparently Mai's mom decided she needed some 'me time', and made Mai bring him. 

"Toph, you'd better not be teaching Kiyi more _words,"_ Katara says. "You remember what happened last time."

Toph cackles. "Yeah, I do! Sparky's head about popped!"

"I don't see what the big deal is," Sokka pipes up, lifting his head from Suki's lap. "They're just _words."_

"This from the guy who still uses 'fudge' as an expletive," Katara remarks. 

"Whatever."

Kiyi settles against Toph's side, looking across the room at Zuko. He's leaning against his bedpost with his feet hanging over the end of the bed, his eyes every few seconds drifting over to Mai, who's drying spilled tea off Tom-Tom's shirt. 

"Effin' dumbass," Toph mutters. "Why doesn't he just either _talk to her_ or build a flippin' bridge and get over it?"

"I know, right?" Kiyi mutters. "He said she doesn't _want_ him."

"Kid, I can't even see, and I can tell she's got the hots for him," Toph comments, accepting Uncle Iroh's offer of another cup of tea. "Your brother's an idiot. No offense, Uncle," she adds, nodding in Uncle's direction. 

"While normally I would defend my nephew, I must agree that Zuko's perception in the area of romance is limited," Uncle says, before turning to give Sokka and Suki their tea.

Toph sighs. "Wish it was socially acceptable to just lock two people in a closet together," she grumbles quietly, sipping her tea. "Maybe they'd stop mooning over each other then." 

Kiyi perks up. "That's it!" she whispers, excited.

Toph frowns. "What is?"

"We'll have to set them up!" She grins. "Maybe not lock them in a closet, but there's gotta be some way to make them talk to each other!" 

Toph raises an eyebrow. "Not a bad idea. It's been a while since I've had a good challenge, and those two stubborn lovebirds fit the bill."

Kiyi glances across the room, to where Zuko is still pretending not to look at Mai while he talks to Sokka, and where Mai is pretending not to look at Zuko while she talks to Katara, and nods. When she talks, she uses the Very Serious Voice Zuko always uses when he's doing Firelord business.

"First, we plan." 

She looks across the room and spots Tom-Tom, looking between Mai and Zuko with something like annoyance. 

"And I think we've got someone who can help." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go! You get another multi-chapter installment!


	2. "The Dinner"

It's taken almost a week of planning. Of sneaking around, making arrangements behind Zuko's back, inviting Tom-Tom over and trying to hold conversations during sparring matches. It's times like this that Kiyi's _really_ glad her brother's the Fire Lord; it makes the cooks and merchants a lot more likely to listen to her without her having to get bossy. 

Now they've got it all sorted out; a little table in the garden, a small but elegant dinner, and most importantly, nobody around to interrupt. There's _no way_ it can go wrong. 

{‡}

"There was _no way_ in which that _didn't_ go wrong," Toph growls, kicking a clod of dirt. " _Why_ did that happen."

"I'm _sorry_ ," Kiyi moans, face down in the dragon begonia bush. "I thought it would work."

"This is why you should leave the planning to the adults." Toph scowls, picking at her nails. "This subtle shit doesn't work with Sparky."

"You shouldn't say 'shit,' it's a bad word," Tom-Tom admonishes, as if he has authority over Toph or something. _Nobody_ has authority over Toph, and it's only because Toph likes Mai that she doesn't push the kid over with a rock spike. 

"Bad words are a social construct, kid. Like time. Or taxes." 

"I don't think that's what a social construct is. Taxes are real," Kiyi points out. "Zuko has to deal with them all the time."

Toph wishes she could roll her eyes. "Whatever. Point is, these lovebirds aren't gonna fall for your little hints and romantic dinners. Zuko's been dodging the moosephant in the room for weeks, like the stubborn bastard he is. He's not gonna stop now." 

"Then what's _your_ idea, genius?" Tom-Tom asks, and it takes all of Toph's (inner) strength not to punt a child across the garden and into the turtleduck pond. 

" _My_ idea, _genius,_ is that we drop all the subtlety, stop acting like this is a play where these kind of antics work, and _make_ the two idiots talk to one another." Toph slams a fist into her palm. 

There's a silence, and probably a lot of non-verbal communication going on between the kids. Which would be great, if Toph could actually see it. 

"Fine," Kiyi finally says. "We'll let you handle it." 

Toph grins, and the kids' heart rates go kind of weird. _Right. That frightens people. Oops._ She keeps grinning anyway. 

"Got any rooms with metal doors?" 

A silence. Again. 

Then a tentative "Yes" from Kiyi. 

Toph smiles. "Bitchin'."

"You shouldn't say —"

"Shut up, Tom-Tom." 

Sometimes Toph is really glad to have Kiyi around. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing to say for myself except: sorry. I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner.


End file.
